APRIL 15, 1915 



BEEKEEPING IN CALIFOMNIA 



P. C. Chadwick. 



Bocs ill the c-ily are begiunini>' 

 to swavni. This is about as early 

 as I have ever known swarming to 

 begin to any extent. 



« * * 



The first orange-blossoms of the 

 season opened in this locality 

 about March 25. The main blooming period 

 will not be on for two weeks. 



* « « 



Wlien 1 looked at the picture of foul- 

 lirood combs on i^age 235, March 15, I felt 

 like grabbing them u]i to put them out of 



the reach of bees. 



« «■ « 



Filaree does not seem (o be yielding its 

 usual quantity of nectar this season. The 

 quantity of pollen from it is becoming a 

 imisance in the combs. 



« * « 



A writer in tlie Wesicrn Honey Bee says 

 Xevada honej' sells from one to three cents 

 higher than California honey. On that 

 l)oint I am from Missouri. 



« * * 



I have one colonj^ with brood in three 

 supers, seventeen frames in all, and still 

 spreading. I would try the much-discussed 

 spring dividing on them if it were not that 

 the orange is already beginning to bloom. 



* • * 



The " boss " slipped in on me last week. 

 Gee I but I felt nervous. After he had gone 

 T felt foolish over my fright, for T now have 

 liis personal permission to call him plain 

 Krnest Root. Such a warm, open-hearted 

 man ! just one of the boys. 

 « « * 



In a private discussion while at the state 

 convention, on the question of whether or 

 not bees hear, I voiced the opinion that 

 they do hear. Since that time I have studied 

 the question a little deeper, and have come 

 to the conclusion that I was foolish indeed 

 to entertain even a thought that they might 

 not hear. Really their actions in the air. 

 while swarming, and at nearh' all times, are 

 controlled by the different sounds of their 

 wings, which is talk to them. 



* * * 



While passing the hospital on March 2.'i 

 I saw a large swarm of bees entering tiiat 

 institution. Tlieie was no ambulance in 

 sight nor doctors in attendance. So far 

 as I know they were not diseased, nor really 

 in need of medical attention. Perhaps they 



Redlands, Cal. 



are to assist the rheumatic patients. As 

 they entered near the busiest part of the 

 building it will be almost safe to say they 

 will operate on some one before long. 



On March 13 I found a two-story colony 

 trying to raise brood in an upper super that 

 was nearly full of honey. To relieve them 

 1 reversed the supers temporarily. The 

 result was five combs full of eggs and larva? 

 on the 23d, in addition to what they had 



on the 13th. 



* » * 



In the Western Honey Bee for March, 

 Editor Bixby gives C. I. Graham a beauti- 

 ful coat of whitewash, and closes an edito- 

 rial by saying that all Mr. Graham asks for 

 is a square deal. That is fair, perfectly 

 fair; but Mr. Bixby would have a hard 

 time in convincing a large number of bee- 

 keepers other than that, if Mr. Graham had 

 had a square deal, he would not have ship- 

 ped half the bees that he has been given 

 credit for having shijaped. 



* * * 



Tlie school exhibit of the tri-counties fair 

 as pictured on page 238, March 15, is inter- 

 esting to me. We watch the little folks 

 grow and develop, and wonder what their 

 " bent " will be. They are a great study, 

 and should be given some latitude of action 

 so that they may choose a line of work for 

 their future which they like, and are in 

 turn of mind adapted for. One of the chief 

 jiroblems with boys of this day seems to be 

 to steer them clear of the cigarette habit. 

 AVith the girls it is to impress them Avitli 

 some sense of modesty. 



* * * 



Prospects are indeed bright, but we 

 should not be too sanguine, for just such 

 fine prospects have turned into disastrous 

 seasons wdthin a short time. A few days 

 of liot dry desert winds and a dry spring 

 will change the situation entirely. The best 

 time to measure tlie honey crop is when it 

 is ready to market. The ground is wet 

 deeper now than at any time last year; and 

 with suflicient sui-face moisture during the 

 spring, with no desert winds, we should get 

 some honey. The sage is a problem to me 

 this year. It looks well — in fact, as well as 

 I have ever seen it; but since it yielded well 

 last year, and we have never to my knowl- 

 edge had two successive good yields from 

 the sage, it makes mo feel a bit doubtful as 

 to the outcpme. 



